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Tag: merger clause

Two staples of sophisticated commercial contracts are integration (aka “merger” or “entire agreement”) clauses and non-reliance (aka “no-reliance” or “anti-reliance”) clauses. While sometimes used interchangeably in casual conversation, and while having some functional similarities, there are important differences between the two clauses.

An integration clause prevents parties from asserting or challenging a contract based on statements or agreements reached during the negotiation stage that were never reduced to writing.

A typical integration clause reads:

“This Agreement , encompasses the entire agreement of the parties, and supersedes all previous understandings and agreements between the parties, whether oral or written. The parties hereby acknowledge and represent that they have not relied on any representation, assertion, guarantee, or other assurance, except those set out in this Agreement, made by or on behalf of any other party prior to the execution of this Agreement.

Integration clauses protect against attempts to alter a contract based on oral statements or earlier drafts that supposedly change the final contract product’s substance. In litigation, integration/merger clauses streamline issues for trial and avoid distracting courts with arguments over ancillary verbal statements or earlier contract drafts.here integration clauses predominate in contract disputes,

Where integration clauses predominate in contract disputes, non-reliance clauses typically govern in the tort setting. In fact, an important distinction between integration and non-reliance clauses lies in the fact that an integration clause does not bar a fraud (a quintessential tort) claim when the alleged fraud is based on statements not contained in the contract (i.e,. extra-contractual statements). *1, 2

A typical non-reliance clause reads:

“Seller shall not be deemed to make to Buyer any representation or warranty other than as expressly made in this agreement and Seller makes no representation or warranty to Buyer with respect to any projections, estimates or budgets delivered to or made available to Buyer or its counsel, accountants or advisors of future revenues, expenses or expenditures or future financial results of operations of Seller. The parties to the contract warrant they are not relying on any oral or written representations not specifically incorporated into the contract.”

No-reliance language precludes a party from claiming he/she was duped into signing a contract by another party’s fraudulent misrepresentation. Unlike an integration clause, a non-reliance clause can defeat a fraud claim since “reliance” is one of the elements a fraud plaintiff must show: that he relied on a defendant’s misstatement to the plaintiff’s detriment. To allege fraud after you sign a non-reliance clause is a contradiction in terms.

Afterwords:

Lawyers and non-lawyers alike should be leery of integration clauses and non-reliance clauses in commercial contracts. The former prevents a party from relying on agreements reached during negotiations that aren’t reduced to writing while the latter (non-reliance clauses) will defeat one side’s effort to assert fraud against the other.

An integration clause will not, however, prevent a plaintiff from suing for fraud. If a plaintiff can prove he was fraudulently induced into signing a contract, an integration clause will not automatically defeat such a claim.

A construction site injury provides the setting for the First District’s recent application of Illinois contract interpretation rules to the question of when and how contracting parties’ prior course of dealing can inform the court’s analysis of an ambiguous written agreement.

In Gomez v. Bovis Lend Lease, 2013 IL App (1st) 130568, the plaintiff plumbing subcontractor was injured when he fell through a floor gap known in the trade as an “infill” while working on the construction of the 102-story Trump Tower in Chicago. He sued the project manager and general contractor who in turn, filed a third-party complaint against the concrete forms subcontractor for breach of a written concrete flooring contract.

The flooring contract required the subcontractor to provide “designs, drawings and technical support” for the concrete forming systems. The parties (the general contractor and the concrete subcontractor) had worked together several times in the past. In these prior projects, the subcontractor never provided any infill design services or technical support to the general contractor. The trial court granted the subcontractor’s motion for summary judgment on the basis that the subcontractor wasn’t obligated to provide support for the infill areas.

Held: Affirmed

In siding with the subcontractor, the First District applied several key contract interpretation and enforceability principles:

– The court must give effect to the parties’ intentions when interpreting a contract;

– The best indication of the parties’ intent is the plain meaning of the contract’s language which must be interpreted in light of the contract as a whole;

– A contract is ambiguous where it’s subject to more than one reasonable interpretation;

– If a contract’s ambiguous, extrinsic evidence may be used to interpret it;

– If the contract is unambiguous, extrinsic evidence may not be used to interpret it;

– Mere disagreement over contract terms doesn’t equate to ambiguity;

– If a contract contains an integration clause, a court may not use extrinsic evidence to interpret the contract;

– But if the contract’s ambiguous, the integration clause will not preclude consideration of extrinsic evidence;

Gomez, ¶¶ 13-14, 25-26.

The Court found the subject contract ambiguous. While the contract was detailed in its delineation of the subcontractor’s design, drawing, calculation and technical support requirements, it was silent on what if any obligations the subcontractor had for an infill area, which was the location of the plaintiff’s injury. The court considered extrinsic evidence including expert affidavit testimony on the parties’ previous projects to determine the scope of the subcontractor’s obligations.

The subcontractor’s summary judgment evidence showed that in the parties’ prior 20 or so projects, neither the general contractor nor the project manager ever asked the subcontractor to provide design or support for infill areas. Because of this, the Court held that the parties’ past dealings and their course of performance on the Trump Tower project conclusively showed that the concrete subcontractor had no contractual responsibility for the infills. The Court affirmed summary judgment for the subcontractor on the general contractor’s contribution claim. Gomez, ¶¶18-19, 30.

Take-away: Gomez presents a good summary of some fundamental and prevalent Illinois contract interpretation principles. The case specifies that where a contract is ambiguous, a court will consider evidence – namely, expert testimony – of the contracting parties’ prior dealings as well as their course of performance on the same project in order to give content to an unclear contract term.